


Boone is S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

by Trystero



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Happy, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-02-28
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trystero/pseuds/Trystero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boone gets a nice present, cheers up, becomes unprecedentedly statlicious, and the gang starts to find him quite S.P.E.C.I.A.L.</p>
<p>Now Boone's up all night to get Luck-y!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boone is S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

At 6pm, in the Revolving Cocktail Lounge of the Lucky 38, the Courier and her friends were hanging up decorations, preparing cocktail shakers and getting ready for a party.

Craig Boone would be getting home from Dr Usanagi’s implant clinic soon. The Courier’s present to him, to thank him for all his help over the previous eight months, was 15 thousand caps worth of implants, improving his Intelligence to 4, Endurance to 6, Luck to 7, and Agility to 8. The procedures were expensive, but she had a good pile of caps these post-war days.

His new stats were:  
 **Intelligence: Knucklehead**  
 **Endurance: Hardy**  
 **Luck: Lucky 7**  
 **Agility: Knife Catcher**

It should really have been 16 thousand, but the good doctor had given a discount for the Intelligence implant. _Needy case_ , she had muttered under her breath. Luckily Boone hadn’t heard. Or if he had, he didn’t care.

The lift dinged and they all looked expectantly towards the sound, but it was just Lily, holding huge platters of freshly baked goods. The room filled with that sweet old-fashioned smell. Mama’s cooking. Putting them down, Lily bustled off back downstairs to get dinner ready.

Fourteen minutes later the lift dinged again.

Boone came in wearing a strange outfit and a strange smile. It was, in fact, a gorgeous smile, only strange because Craig Boone NEVER smiled.

“New duds?” asked Cass.  
“Yeah.” Boone had on an outfit made of tan brahmin suede, and mighty fine he looked in it to, not to mention it raised his Endurance and Agility by 1 each, bringing them to 7 and 9.

**Endurance: Tough-as-nails**  
 **Agility: Acrobatic Marvel**

“Bought this at Mick and Ralph’s on the way home,” he said. “Sick of my old army fatigues.”  
“About time, your old trousers were almost see-through they were so worn,” said Veronica.  
“And your old shirt smelled like deathclaw afterbirth,” added Raul, to general disgust and nose-wrinkling and sighs of _Aw, Raul, gross._ “What? It did.”

Boone was entirely unperturbed. He felt good.

“DINNER,” said Lily, coming in with plates piled high with bighorner steaks. She carried them waitress style, several on each arm, and her arms were big enough to bring everyone’s at once.

Sitting at a table together, they tucked in. The bighorner steak increased Boone’s Strength by 2, to 9. He fed Rex some generous pieces under the table, a nice treat for a dog who usually ate dried gecko strips. 

**Strength: Doomsday Pecs**

“I have a present for you,” said the Courier. She produced a small wrapped box.  
Boone took it, nonplussed. “You already gave me a pretty nice present,” he said, not opening it.  
“Yep, but when I saw these, I knew they were for you,” she said, smiling.

Tearing open the paper and lifting the lid off the box, Boone found sunglasses. Similar to his own, but more stylish, and in almost new condition. He took his off and tried the new ones on. Much, much nicer than his old ones.  
“They’re called Lucky Shades,” said the Courier. It was true. Boone’s Luck had increased, now standing at 9.

**Luck: 21-Leaf Clover**

“We better go play some poker tonight then,” Boone grinned. “I feel lucky.”  
“NOT TILL AFTER COOKIES,” boomed Lily.  
“Course not, Lily. We all love your cookies, don’t we guys?” Boone looked around the table. He got up and leaned over to give Lily a big hug. “You are the best grandma ever, Lily.”  
Lily’s chin wobbled and a tear welled up in her eye. “THANK YOU, JIMMY. YOU’RE A GOOD BOY.” She hugged Boone so hard he nearly popped a rib, but he hugged her back and didn’t complain.

After dinner, while they ate cookies and shot the breeze, Boone cleaned, oiled and polished ED-E, tapping out some small dents and straightening his antennae.

Then, on a maintenance roll, he cleaned, oiled and polished Rex’s mechanical parts, taking care to get rid of any trace of the graffiti the dog used to have on one panel. Rex licked his hand gratefully.

He joined Raul in partaking of some Coyote Tobacco Chew, which had the side-effect of putting up Boone’s Perception and Agility by 1 each, maxing them both out.

**Perception: Eagle with a Telescope**  
 **Agility: Walks on Water**

“I wish I was a young guy like you,” Raul said wistfully. “I’m just a creaky old bag of bones nowadays.”  
“No you’re not. Man, I’d change places with you, Raul. You’re the coolest guy I ever knew. You’ve had a fuckin’ incredible life, you’ve seen so many eras come and go, you have so much experience,” said Boone. “And you seen so many bad times, but you never let shit get you down. You’re an inspiration to me.”  
Raul didn’t say anything, but he looked proud.  
“If you’re up for it, it’d be real cool if you could come on hunting trips with me sometime,” Boone suggested.  
“I would like that,” Raul said. 

Arcade came over to join them. “Congratulations on your new stats, Boone,” he said.  
“Thanks, Gannon. Hey listen, I been meaning to ask you, could you teach me to do better first aid? I mean I know a bit, but I’d like to learn the more advanced stuff,” Boone said.  
Arcade was stunned, but quickly recovered. “Sure. Love to teach you.”  
“Thanks, man. You’re a gentleman and a scholar.”  
Arcade blushed slightly.  
“I really look up to you, man,” Boone said. “You got a lotta knowledge, and a lotta integrity.”  
Arcade went rose red. “Er, ah, well thank you Boone. Hey, if we’re going out tonight, do you fancy a little pick-me-up?” He rustled in his pockets, more for an excuse to do something with his hands than anything else. His pockets produced some small packets of pills, Buffout and Party Time Mentats. He, Boone and Raul all took one of each, washed down with Jake Juice. The Buffout increased Boone’s Strength by 2 and Endurance by 3, maxing them both out. 

******Strength: Hercules’ Bigger Cousin**  
 **Endurance: Unstoppable** ** **

The Party Time Mentats raised his Intelligence by 2, and combined with the Jake Juice, raised his Charisma by 7, resulting in his Intelligence hitting 6 and his Charisma 8. 

******Intelligence: Gifted**  
 **Charisma: Movie Star** ** **

“Everyone ready? Let’s go party!” said the Courier. 

She shepherded them all into the lift, crammed in together like sardines. Halfway down, Cass let one rip, and tried to blame Raul, which made them all burst into fits of undignified giggling. 

As they walked up the Strip together, laughing and enjoying each others’ company, the sun slipped below the horizon. Boone was a night person, and as dusk fell his Intelligence rose up by 2 to hit 8. 

******Intelligence: Know-it-all** ** **

All his stats were maxed now except for Intelligence, Charisma and Luck. 

Boone was feeling great. 

They went into the Tops and gambled a little. Boone won and won. After an hour he called it quits, by which time he had a wad of NCR folding money so thick that Cass’ eyes nearly popped out of her head at the sight of it. Boone, Perception 10, caught her look and offered the wad to her.  
“Restart Cassidy Caravans, Cass,” he said, handing her the money.  
“I can’t accept this,” she said, snatching it.  
Boone just smiled, and tousled her hair. “You need a little luck, and tonight I got some to spare,” he said. He looked over at the rest of the gang. “C’mon, let’s dance!” 

None of them had ever seen Boone dance before. And none of them ever forgot it. The man could _move_. He danced simultaneously with Cass, Veronica, the Courier, and even dragged Arcade out onto the dance floor. Raul and Lily would not be dragged. Boone and his maxed-out Agility shimmied and soft-shoe-shuffled and hip-thrusted all around the dancefloor, whirling them around with him. 

Everyone got caught up in his incandescent good mood. It was the best night the group had ever had together. 

Later, after they were all seated at the bar again, Boone started telling jokes. He’d never been known to tell jokes before, but it seemed he had an inexhaustible supply of them stored somewhere in his brain, that he must have heard whilst in the army, and they were all coming out. He turned out to have surprisingly brilliant comic timing, and the gang nearly pissed themselves at some of his cheeky jokes.  
Arcade tried to tell a joke too. “Ok, René Descartes walks into a bar. The barman says, ‘The usual, René?’ Descartes says, ‘I think not,’ and poof, he disappears.”  
No one got that one, but everyone laughed anyway because it sounded funny the way Arcade told it. 

Much later, back at the Lucky 38 and now in the presidential suite, Boone noticed that Vero seemed a little uncomfortable. He asked what was wrong.  
“Sore neck, I pulled a muscle with my dance moves,” she admitted.  
“Come here,” Boone said. He set her to lying face down on the sofa, straddled her thighs and gave her a fantastic backrub, easing his Strength 10 fingers into her sore muscles and mulching them into heaven. 

He sipped at another Jake Juice, and it pushed his Charisma up one more point, to 9. 

******Charisma: Casanova** ** **

“I HAVE A PRESENT FOR YOU TOO, JIMMY,” said Lily. “I MADE YOU A NEW PAIR OF PYJAMAS.”  
‘New’ was a misnomer, since Boone had never owned any pyjamas, and usually slept naked. Lily went off and came back with a bundle of silky cloth that turned out to be the sexiest sleepwear imaginable. It was a lush dark red colour, and clung to Boone’s muscled frame making him look like a silky Adonis. It also raised his Charisma by +1, maxing him out. 

******Charisma: Cult Leader** ** **

“Lily, Raul, Veronica, it’s time for bed, off you go,” said the Courier in a strange voice. “Go on. Off.”  
They went, leaving her, Cass and Arcade alone with Boone. None of them could take their eyes off his +10ness. 

That night, Boone got _lucky_. 


End file.
